# Malik Zidi

Malik Zidi (born 14 February 1975) is a French film, television and theatre actor. He is a César Award recipient for Most Promising Actor.

## Life and career

Malik Zidi was born in Châtenay-Malabry to a Kabyle Algerian father and a Breton mother. He spent his formative years in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, a suburb of Paris. Zidi abandoned his conventional studies early to concentrate on a career in comedy. Following courses at the Théâtre Véronique Nordey, and the Théâtre de Proposition in Paris, he briefly studied acrobatics and mime at the Théâtre de la Piscine and cinema at the Studio Pygmalion. Zidi made his first film appearance in the 1998 Sébastien Lifshitz-directed Les Corps ouverts.
In 2000, Zidi was chosen by director François Ozon to appear as the troubled, lovelorn, bisexual youth Franz in the Teddy Award-winning film Water Drops on Burning Rocks (French:Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes). The film was based on the play Tropfen auf heisse Steine by German film director and screenwriter Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The film is a four-part comedy-drama shot entirely on one set and featuring only four actors: Zidi, Bernard Giraudeau, Ludivine Sagnier and American actress Anna Levine. Zidi's role in Water Drops on Burning Rocks garnered him his first of four César Award nominations.
Malik Zidi followed up with roles in the 2002 Antoine Santana-directed Un moment de bonheur (English: One Moment of Happiness) opposite Isild Le Besco, earning his second César Award nomination for Most Promising Actor. In 2004, he appeared in the André Téchiné-directed romantic drama Les Temps qui changent (English release title: Changing Times) as Sami, the bisexual son of Cécile (portrayed by Catherine Deneuve), who visits his parents in Tangiers so that he may visit his Moroccan boyfriend. The film also starred actor Gérard Depardieu and was nominated for a Satellite Award. Zidi received his third César Award nomination.
In 2006, Zidi appeared in the Emmanuel Bourdieu-drama Les Amitiés maléfiques (English release title: Poison Friends). The film was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival and Bourdieu received the Critics Week Grand Prize and the Grand Golden Rail. The film also won the SACD Screenwriting Award and Zidi was once again nominated for a César Award, winning the Award for Most Promising Actor 2007.
In addition to film, Zidi has appeared in numerous television roles.
In 2020, Zidi penned his first novel L'ombre du soir, which was published by Éditions Anne Carrière.

## Personal life

Zidi currently resides in the Ile-de-France. He lists Michel Piccoli and Laurent Terzieff as his "heroes" and is a jazz aficionado.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Open Bodies | Classroom mate | |
| 1998 | Place Vendôme | Sam's Son | |
| 1998 | Le Onzième commandement | | |
| 2000 | Water Drops on Burning Rocks | Franz | Nominated—César Award for Most Promising Actor |
| 2000 | The Judge Is a Woman | Yvan | TV series |
| 2000 | Deuxième vie | The cybercafé waiter | |
| 2001 | Vertiges | Nico | TV series |
| 2001 | Sa mère, la pute | Bimbo | Telefilm |
| 2002 | Un moment de bonheur | Philippe | Nominated—César Award for Most Promising Actor |
| 2002 | Almost Peaceful | Joseph | |
| 2002 | Froid comme l'été | Baudelaire | |
| 2003 | My Children Are Different | Thomas | |
| 2003 | The Thibaults | Jacques Thibault | TV mini-series |
| 2004 | Sissi, l'impératrice rebelle | Rodolphe | Telefilm |
| 2004 | Old Goriot | Eugène de Rastignac | Telefilm |
| 2004 | Changing Times | Sami | Nominated—César Award for Most Promising Actor |
| 2005 | Looking for Cheyenne | Pierre | |
| 2005 | Les Rois maudits | Philippe VI de Valois | TV miniseries |
| 2006 | Beyond the Ocean | Bruno | |
| 2006 | Poison Friends | Eloi Duhaut | César Award for Most Promising Actor Nominated—Lumières Award for Most Promising Actor |
| 2006 | Le Grand Meaulnes | Franz | |
| 2007 | Jacquou le Croquant | Touffu | |
| 2007 | Les Camarades | François | TV mini-series |
| 2007 | Les Zygs, le secret des disparus | Jean / Béjean | Telefilm |
| 2007 | Le Baiser | The man | Short film |
| 2007 | Faits divers | Franck | Short film |
| 2008 | Rendez-vous au tas de sable... | Vincent | Short film |
| 2008 | Miroir, mon beau miroir | Lepic | Telefilm |
| 2008 | La Mort n'oublie personne | Jean Ricouart | Telefilm |
| 2008 | Geliebte Clara | Johannes Brahms | |
| 2009 | Après moi | Hugo | Telefilm |
| 2009 | Ex | Marc | |
| 2009 | Un chat un chat | Antoine | |
| 2009 | Venus and Apollo | Paul | |
| 2009 | Sweet France | Mourad Chaouche | Telefilm |
| 2009 | The Queen of Clubs | Aurélien | |
| 2010 | Mysteries of Lisbon | Visconde de Armagnac | |
| 2011 | Mysteries of Lisbon | Visconde de Armagnac | TV mini-series |
| 2011 | Rebellion | JP Perrot | |
| 2012 | The Gordji Affair | Luc Delair | Telefilm |
| 2012 | Le Silence et l'Oubli | Emmanuel | Short film |
| 2012 | Lines of Wellington | Octave de Ségur | |
| 2012 | Berthe Morisot | Édouard Manet | Telefilm |
| 2012 | As Linhas de Torres Vedras | Octave de Ségur | TV mini-series |
| 2012 | A Child of Yours | Victor | |
| 2013 | Amaro amore | Andrè | |
| 2013 | The Marchers | Philippe | |
| 2013 | Loulou, l'incroyable secret | Loulou (voice) | Animated film |
| 2013 | Robbery on the Champs-Élysées | Mathieu | Short film |
| 2014 | Sire Gauvain et le Chevalier Vert | Bertilak / Le Chevalier Vert | Short film |
| 2015 | Le Ciel du centaure | Ingeniero | |
| 2015 | The Assistant | Thomas Lemans | |
| 2015 | Made in France | Sam | |
| 2016 | Daguerrotype | Thomas | |
| 2016 | Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge | André Debierne | |
| 2017 | Gauguin - Voyage de Tahiti | Henri Vallin | |
| 2017 | Nox | Raphaël Berger | TV mini-series Nominated - ACS Award for Best Actor |
| 2018 | Tout ce qu'il me reste de la révolution | Saïd | |
| 2019 | Play | Mathias Adler | |
| 2019 | Vers la bataille | Louis | |
| 2021 | Oxygen | Léo Ferguson | |
| 2022 | Qu'est-ce qu'elle a ma famille? | Mathieu | Telefilm |
| 2022 | Sons of Ramses | Michaël | |
| 2023 | Disparition inquiétante | Ludovic Minghetti | TV mini-series |

## Other awards

* 2001: Berlin International Film Festival - Shooting Stars Award